Wearing apparel



1M. 4 119% F, WDY 2,29,564

WEARING APPAREL Filed Feb. 27, 1935 Patented Feb. 4, 1936 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE WEARING APPAREL Application February 27, 1935, Serial No. 8,421

'7 Claims.

This invention pertains to moisture-resistant wearing apparel, for example raincapes, and relates more particularly to an improved hand opening for such a garment, and to a method of making the same.

Raincapes are designed to cover the shoulders and arms of the wearer and usually reach down to the region of the knees or lower, and overlap at the front so that the wearer is obliged to extend her hand or arm out between the front portions of the garment in reaching for anything, or, for example, to hold an umbrella over the head.

While raincoats and other protective garments have commonly been provided with openings in their front portions through which to project the hand and arm, it has not heretofore been deemed practical to provide such openings in raincapes by reason of the character of the material employed in making such capes. Raincoats are commonly made of rubberized textile fabric which is quite strong and does not tear easily, and which is capable of taking and retaining stitches for 'uniting the parts,-such raincoats being expected to withstand prolonged use and commonly being tailored to fit the figure. On the other hand,

raincapes are primarily intended for emergency wear, with little reference to durability or fit, and must be made of a material and in accordance with such methods of manufacture that they can be sold very cheaply. For these reasons raincapes are commonly made from very light and thin material, for example, rubber sheeting or the like, which, While waterproof, has but little tensile strength and tears easily. The constituent parts of the raincapes are out, from this material before it is cured, and assembled by the use of cement, crimping or similar processes, and then vulcanized so as to form an integral or unitary article without the use of stitches.

While this light, thin material is efficient as a protection from rain or moisture, it tears so readily that it has not previously been deemed expedient to provide such a cape with hand openings through which to project the hands or arms of the wearer, since the stretching of the material in passing the arm through the slit or opening, or any movements of the hand while projected through the opening, tend to cause the material to tear at the ends of the opening, so that very quickly the opening becomes so large as to destroy the looks and utility of the cape. Howevensuch slits or openings for the hands are desirable in raincapes for the convenience of the wearer, and the principal object of the present invention is 'to'p'rovide a construction suchthat a garment, made of the thin and easily torn material commonly employed for raincapes, may be provided with hand openings which will not readily tear at the corners, even after a considerable period of use.

A further object is to provide a method of making such a non-tearing slit or opening in a garment or other article made of material such as above referred to.

In the accompanying drawing wherein one desirable embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example, together with certain steps in the preferred method of making the improved slit construction Fig. l is a perspective view showing a raincape provided with my improved 'slit construction, showing the slit in use and also illustrating a covering flap which normally conceals the slit from view;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view, showing the material from which the body portion of the garment is constructed, and illustrating the first step in making the improved opening in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2a is a section, to large scale, 2a-2a of Fig. 2;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a reinforce member and covering flap preferably employed in making a garment in accordance with the present invention, one corner of the reinforce member being turned back;

Fig. 3a is a section, 3dr-3d of Fig. 3;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating the parts after the assembly of the reinforce member and covering flap with the body portion of the garment;

Fig. 4a, is a section, to large scale, on the line la-4a of Fig. 4;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the completion of a subsequent step in the operation;

Fig. 6 is another view similar to Fig. 4 but illustrating the completion of a further step in the operation of making the garment;

Fig. 6a is a section, to large scale, on the line lid-5w of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 6b is a section, to large scale, on the line lib-6b of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawing the numeral l indicates my improved raincape as it appears in use, the cape comprising the body portion which includes the front parts 2 and 3 which normally overlap during use so as to protect the wearers person. In accordance with the present invenon the line to large scale, on the line tion the forward parts 2 and 3 of the body of the garment, or at least one of such parts, is provided with a hand opening, preferably a vertically elongate slit, through which the wearer may project her hand 5 outwardly to the exterior of the garment. Preferably the hand opening is normally covered and concealed by a flap 6.

In the manufacture of the improved raincape, as shown in Fig. 1, I preferably employ a thin and flexible sheet material, for example, thin sheeted rubber or some other flexible and thin organic material capable of resisting moisture or shedding rain, for example, one of the derivatives of cellulose. This thin material is not reinforced in any way by a backing or inclusion of textile fabric or the like, since it is desirable to have the raincape as light as possible, and more important to make it of a material such that it may be sold very cheaply. However, such unreinforced and thin sheet material is ordinarily very easily torn, having but little strength to resist a shearing or tearing strain.

As the first step in preparing the hand opening or slit, I provide the front part or parts of the body material of the garment with a pair of openings 1 and 8 (Fig. 2) spaced apart a distance substantially corresponding to the length of the desired hand opening. These holes I and 8 are of substantial diameter, for example, I find that openings of the order of one-quarter of an inch are preferable, although I contemplate that they may be slightly smaller or slightly larger than this if preferred.

I also provide a reinforce member for each of the proposed openings. Such a reinforce member is shown at 9 in Fig. 3, and preferably consisting of thin flexible sheet material, for example, material like that used in making the body of the garment, although I contemplate that a different material may sometimes be preferred.

This reinforce member is of a length somewhat greater than the distance between the holes I and 8, and in its broader aspects, the invention contemplates the use of a reinforce member consisting merely of a strip of substantially rectangular outline and of a width such as to extend to a substantial distance, for example, one-half inch at either side of the desired opening. However, while the reinforce member may be a relatively narrow rectangular piece such as just suggested, I prefer, as illustrated in Fig. 5, to combine with this reinforce strip a covering flap designed to cover the opening in the finished garment. Thus the part 9 which constitutes the reinforce member may comprise the reinforcing or attaching portion l0 and the flap-forming portion II. In the attaching or reinforcing portion I I] of this member I provide holes l2 and I3 spaced on centers the same distance apart as the holes 1 and 8 in the body portion of the garment, and preferably of the same diameter as the holes I and 8. Having prepared the body portion of the garment, for example, from uncured rubber sheeting, and also the reinforce member 9 as described, the latter is placed against the outer surface of the body material in the position indicated in Fig. 4, so that the hole l2 registers with the hole I and the hole [3 with the hole 8, and the attaching portion ID of the reinforce member is then permanently united to the body material of the garment by adhesion, for example, by the employment of an adhesive cement shown at M (Fig. 3) or by the process commonly known in the rubber trade as crimping. After the parts have thus been united and the garment otherwise completed, the garment is vulcanized, and then as the next step in the formation of the hand opening, an incision I 5 (Fig. 3) is made, extending from the upper pair of registering holes 1, I2 to the lower pair of holes 8, I 3,the incision passing through the two plies formed by the body material and the reinforcing member. The slit thus formed terminates at its opposite ends in substantially circular openings, and when the opposite edges of the incision are stretched apart, as in passing the hand through the incision or opening, the stress at the ends of the incision is distributed about the walls of the circular openings, so that the material does not readily tear.

If, as above suggested, the reinforce member has associated therewith the flap-forming portion I I, the latter is now folded over substantially on the line l6 (Fig. 6a) into the portion shown in Fig. 6, and preferably the upper and lower ends I! and I8, respectively, of this flap portion, are cemented or otherwise secured to the underlying attaching portion IU of the reinforce mem ber. If preferred these end portions may be secured to the underlying material by means of rivets l9 (Figs. 6 and 6b) having ornamental heads or buttons at the exposed surface of the garment.

While I have hereinabove described a particular order of steps which is desirable in forming the hand opening in a garment, I wish it to be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to the specific order of procedure set forth, and that equivalent process steps may be substituted for those described without departing from the spirit of the invention. Further-- more, which I have made specific reference to rubber sheeting as the material employed in making the garment, it is to be understood that the process described may be applicable to materials having somewhat the same characteristics, for example, a tendency to tear easily and which are thin and flexible and of water-repellent or waterresistant character. It is further to be understood that which I have herein described the invention with particular reference to the manufacture of raincapes, in its broader aspects it is applicable to garments or articles of other types wherein similar conditions are encountered.

I claim:

1. A raincape having a body portion consisting of thin, flexible and easily torn water-repellent sheet material, said cape having a narrow elongate slit in its body material and a flap member of thin, flexible sheet material having an attaching portion adhesively united to the body material of the cape at the region of the slit, the slit passing through said attaching portion, the attaching portion and the body material of the cape having registering holes of substantial diameter at the opposite ends of the slit thereby to prevent elongation of the slit by tearing, the flap being turned back over its attaching portion and concealing the slit.

2. A raincape having a body portion consisting of flexible, thin and easily torn rubber sheeting, the front of the body portion having an elongate slit for the projection of the wearers hand, a flap member having an attaching portion also having an elongate slit which registers with that in the body portion of the cape, said attaching portion being adhesively united and cnmped to the body portion of the cape, the body portion and the attaching portion of the flap having registering holes of substantial diameter disposed at opposite ends of the slit and operative to prevent elongation of the slit by tearing, the flap being folded over to cover its attaching portion and to conceal the slit, and means uniting the ends of said folded-over portion to the cape leaving one edge of the flap free.

3. That method of preparing a non-tearing opening in an article consisting of thin, flexible and easily torn sheet material which comprises as steps making a pair of holes of substantial diameter at points defining the opposite ends of the desired opening, preparing a reinforce member from sheet material, providing such reinforce member with a pair of holes similar in diameter and spaced similarly to those in the article proper, registering the holes in the reinforce member with those in the article proper, then adhesively uniting the reinforce member to said article while the holes are so registered, and thereafter connecting the holes by a narrow slit passing through the article proper and the reinforce member.

4. That method of preparing a non-tearing hand opening in a rain protective garment, whose body portion consists of thin, flexible and easily torn rubber sheeting, which comprises as steps making a pair of holes of substantial diameter in the uncured sheeting forming the body portion of the garment at points defining the ends of the desired hand opening, preparing a reinforce member of uncured rubber sheeting of a length greater than the distance between said holes, making holes in said reinforce member spaced apart substantially the same distance as those in the body of the garment, disposing the reinforce member on the body material so that the holes in the two parts register, then crimping and adhesively uniting the reinforce material and body portion, vulcanizing the garment, and connecting the holes by an incision passing through the entire thickness of both body portion and reinforce.

5. That method of preparing a non-tearing hand opening in a rain protective garment, whose body portion consists of thin, flexible and easily torn rubber sheeting, which comprises as steps making a pair of holes of substantial diameter in the uncured sheeting forming the body portion of the garment at points defining the ends of the desired hand opening, preparing a covering flap from uncured rubber sheeting, said covering flap including an attaching portion of a length greater than the distance between the holes in the body material, making a pair of holes in the attaching portion of the flap, said latter holes being spaced substantially the same distance apart as those in the body material, applying said attaching portion of the flap to the body material so that the openings in the two parts register, then crimp-ing the reinforce member to the body material, vulcanizing the garment, connecting the holes by an incision passing through both the flap-attaching member and the body material, folding the flap back upon itself along a line substantially parallel to the incision so that it covers the attaching member and the incision, and securing the ends of the folded-over portion of the flap to the attaching portion thereof.

6. That method of preparing a non-tearing hand opening in a rain protective garment whose body portion consists of thin, flexible and easily torn rubber sheeting which comprises as steps making a pair of holes of substantial diameter in the uncured sheeting, forming the body portion of the garment at points defining the ends of the desired hand opening, preparing a covering flap from uncured rubber sheeting, said covering flap including an attaching portion of a length greater than the distance between the holes in the body material, making a pair of holes in the attaching portion of the flap, said latter holes being of substantially the same diameter and spaced the same distance apart as those in the body material, applying said attaching portion of the flap to the body material so that the openings in the two parts register, then crimping the reinforce member to the body material, vulcanizing the garment, connecting the holes by an incision passing through both the flap-attaching member and the body material, folding the flap back upon itself along a line substantially parallel to the incision so that it covers the attaching member and the incision, and cementing the ends of the folded-over portion of the flap to the attaching portion thereof, leaving one longitudinal edge of the flap free.

"I. That method of preparing a non-tearing hand opening in a rain protective garment, whose body portion consists of thin, flexible and easily torn rubber sheeting, which comprises as steps making a pair of holes of substantial diameter in the uncured sheeting, forming the body portion of the garment at points defining the ends of the desired hand opening, preparing a covering flap' from uncured rubber sheeting, said covering flap including an attaching portion of a length greater than the distance between the holes in the body material, making a pair of holes in the attaching portion of the flap, said latter holes being substantially the same distance apart as those in the body material, applying said attaching portion of the flap to the body material so that the openings in the two parts register, then crimping the reinforce member to the body material, vulcanizing the garment, connecting the holes by an incision passing through both the flap attaching member and the body material, folding the flap back upon itself along a line substantially parallel tothe incision. so that it covers the attaching member and the incision, and uniting the ends of the folded-over portion of the flap to the underlying plies by, means of rivets.

WILLIAM F. GOWDY. 

